It is Not True That Nice Guys Finish Last-Daily Meditation 8.17.22

Today’s quotation:

It is not true that nice guys finish last.
Nice guys are winners before the game ever starts.-Addison Walker

Today’s Meditation:

Thank you, Addison, for putting it so bluntly and succinctly.  It’s not just okay to be a nice person, but it’s even desirable–after all, nice people are winners in the game of life.  They’ve learned how to treat others with kindness and compassion, and they’ve learned just how they can affect others in positive ways with their nice thoughts, words, and deeds.

Even as a kid I had serious problems with the idea that “nice guys finish last.”  It just seemed like such a stupid idea to me, one that would make almost everyone want to not be a nice person.  Who wants to finish last?  It also made it sound like anyone who finishes first simply can’t be a nice person through the very virtue of their victory.

Niceness and kindness are the building blocks of decent, caring societies of the world.  When these qualities are present in our day-to-day interactions with other human beings, then we see many more people who are well-adjusted and who are enjoying life to the fullest.  When we know that other people are motivated simply by the desire to be nice to others, we don’t have to worry about how they’re going to treat us tomorrow or the next day, and a lot of stress leaves us.

Be kind.  Love one another.  Be nice.  These are ways that we can make our own little worlds, the spaces that we inhabit here among the rest of the world, a very pleasant place to live, a place where we can thrive and grow into the wonderful people we all have the potential to be.

The greatest mark of who we are is how we treat others.

Questions to consider:

Why was the phrase “Nice guys finish last” so popular for so long?

Would you rather be around nice people or people who show no kindness?  Which kind are you?

Who’s the nicest person you know (in a very sincere way)?  How does that person make others feel?

For further thought:

Constant kindness can accomplish much.  As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to evaporate.-Albert Schweitzer